New Bill Could Help Georgia Grow as a Solar Market

      Local Public Service Commissioner Lauren "Bubba" McDonald, Jr., had noted that "Georgia is the third best state for solar energy in the United States but ranks 35th in actual solar installations, even the cost of panels have decreased 33%." In fact, the state has the same solar potential as central Africa or India, with most areas of the state generating between 4.92 and 5.21 kilowatt hours per square meter per day.
      With all this to be considered, Georgia represents an unmarked opportunity to grow. Therefore, it's no surprise that Georgia Solar Utilities company is backing the "Rural Georgia Economic Recovery and Solar Resource Act of 2013." This bill is enabled to create a unique financing model for solar energy, wherein third parties (like Georgia Solar Utilities) can submit proposals to the Public Service Commission for financing and aggregating solar energy.
      Some of the details enlisted in the bill have the capacity to help Georgia grow in terms of the solar market. The statute clears roadblocks like interconnection and grid access for generating assets and this entire program is on an opt-in basis. Competitive bidding on construction and installation will be creating market incentives to help lower the soft costs of solar panel installations. Since photovoltaic and solar farms are covered under the statute, neighborhood homes in Atlanta could have solar power on their roofs while unused fields in the country can yield 30-megawatt solar farms. If the sun decides to shine in either place, ratepayers in both areas reap the benefits as well as this geographical distribution also brings about less variability.
     "The world has changed for the economics of solar in Georgia, but we're stuck with 40-year-old laws that block us from taking advantage of it," said Robert Green, CEO of Georgia Solar Utilities. "So we're offering a conservative, no-brainer proposition: let a private company bear all the downside risk for investing in solar with no upward pressure on utility rates, and let ratepayers reap the upside of future cost savings as solar prices fall."

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Recyclable Solar Cells Created using Trees

       Researches have developed recyclable and efficient solar cells using natural substrates from plants like trees. Georgia Institute of Technology and Purdue University researchers wrote in the journal Scientific Reports about how the solar cells can be recycled quickly in water at the end of their lifecycle. The team's solar cells are capable of reaching a power conversion efficiency of 2.7%.
       During the recycling process, the solar cells are immersed in water at room temperature, and within minutes, the CNC substrates on which the solar cells are fabricated can be separated easily into its major components.
       Georgia Tech College of Engineering Professor Bernard Kippelen, who led the study, said the method opens up the door for a truly recyclable, sustainable and renewable solar cell technology. "The development and performance of organic substrates in solar technology continues to improve, providing engineers with a good indication of future applications," Kippelen, who is also the director of Georgia Tech's Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics (COPE), said in a statement. "But organic solar cells must be recyclable. Otherwise we are simply solving one problem, less dependence on fossil fuels, while creating another, a technology that produces energy from renewable sources but is not disposable at the end of its lifecycle."
       Current organic solar cells are fabricated on glass or plastic, but neither is easily recyclable or very eco-friendly. If cells fabricated on glass were to break during the manufacturing process, the material would be difficult to dispose of. The team's cells are made from wood and are green, renewable and sustainable. "Our next steps will be to work toward improving the power conversion efficiency over 10%, levels similar to solar cells fabricated on glass or petroleum-based substrates," said Kippelen. The US forest product industry projects that tens of millions of tons of cellulose nanomaterials from wood could be produced once large-scale production begins in the next 5 years.
        Another new manufacturing method for producing solar cells was unveiled in the journal Advanced Materials in February. MIT researchers described a new process that allows scientists to passivate silicon at room temperatures, which helps with the high price of manufacturing computer chips and solar cells. In the MIT team's process, they decompose organic vapors over wires heated to 572 degrees Fahrenheit. Heating these wires requires less power than illuminating an ordinary light bulb. This process not only opens the door for cheaper solar panels, but also new applications for computer chips.

Source : Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com -- Your Universe Online